The Best Places to Drink and Do in Denver
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- Westword 2026 · Best Weekly Karaoke · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Venue for Discovering New Bands · Best of Denver
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- Westword 2026 · Best Place to Watch People Beat Each Other Up · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Latin Club · Best of Denver
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- Thrillist Thrillist: The Best Bars in Denver
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Rank 124. Hey Kiddo
Korean Cocktail Bar
A cocktail lounge called Ok Yeah tucked into the back tells you everything about the vibe here. Hey Kiddo is a playful, Asian-inflected restaurant and bar on the third floor of a Tennyson Street building, with a rooftop deck most people don't find on the first visit. The menu runs on shareable plates, and the team behind it earned a James Beard Outstanding Restaurateur semifinalist nod. The room skews young and loud in the best way.
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- Westword Westword: 2023 · Best New Restaurant-and-Bar Combo · Best of Denver
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Selected Restaurant
- 5280 5280: The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best New Restaurant-and-Bar Combo · Best of Denver
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- 5280 The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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- Thrillist Thrillist: The Best Bars in Denver
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- Thrillist Thrillist: The Best Bars in Denver
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Rank 128. Piper Inn
Dive Bar
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The entrance is a walk-in freezer door at the back of an ice cream shop, which sets the tone perfectly. Behind it is a sci-fi cocktail lounge with a glowing backbar and B movies running on the wall, where the drinks are named after cult films and built with ingredients that require a moment to process. The kind of bar that rewards people who ask questions.
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- The Infatuation The Infatuation: The Best Bars In Denver
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The 12th-floor balcony of this penthouse lounge looks out over RiNo, and the room inside, all emerald banquettes and moon-like pendant lights, is doing its level best to compete with the view. Cocktails lean botanical and a little precious, saffron gin and rose water that kind of thing, which fits the vibe perfectly. The snacks are luxe and unapologetic. Eater named it among Denver's best bars, and the crowd tends to dress for the occasion.
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Siouxsie and the Banshees memorabilia shares wall space with He-Man tiki mugs at this 1980s-themed cocktail bar on South Broadway. Lava lamps, vintage arcade games, and old music videos running on mounted TVs make it the kind of place where you stop checking the time entirely, which is probably the point. Pizza rolls show up on the snack menu, as they should. The crowd dresses accordingly, or wishes they had.
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A wristband taps to your credit card at check-in so you never fish out your wallet again, which is either clever hospitality or a mild threat depending on your willpower. Number Thirty Eight is a vast indoor-outdoor beer hall where stalls run by Colorado breweries, cideries, wineries, and distilleries line the walls, the patio is dog-friendly, and Split Lip handles the burgers. Westword named it the city's best free entertainment.
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- Westword Westword: 2025 · Best Art Experience for Neurodiverse Kids: Sensory-Friendly Mornings · Best of Denver
- Westword Westword: 2024 · Best Museum to Make You Think · Best of Denver
- Westword Westword: 2024 · Best New Offerings at a Museum · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Art Experience for Neurodiverse Kids: Sensory-Friendly Mornings · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Museum to Make You Think · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best New Offerings at a Museum · Best of Denver
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- Westword 2025 · Best Springtime Tulip Display · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Ticketed Summer Concert Series · Best of Denver
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- Westword 2025 · Best Free Recording Studio · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Resurrection · Best of Denver
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A historic tavern on Larimer that's been a dive, a cougar bar, and a live-music dance hall, sometimes all in one night. The drinks are stiff and cheap, a band usually occupies the small stage, and the whole place functions as a pressure valve for anyone who's had enough of the polished LoDo scene just outside. The occasional Phi Alpha Whatever will wander in, but the regulars absorb them without incident.
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- Westword 2023 · Best Unpretentious Yet Legendary Venue · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Bar in LoDo to Pretend You’re on Colfax · Best of Denver
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- Westword 2024 · Best Supper Club · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Jazz Club · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Dinner and a Show · Best of Denver
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Su Teatro has been Denver's anchor for Chicano theater for decades, running out of the Denver Civic Theatre at the heart of the Santa Fe Arts District, which also happens to be the city's historic Latino neighborhood. The company produces its own touring work and rents the space to outside groups, so the calendar stays eclectic. If you're catching one of their own shows, you're in the right hands.
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- Westword 2025 · Best Theater Expansion · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Theatrical Milestone · Best of Denver
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- Westword 2025 · Best Bookstore for Educators · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Bookstore — New Books · Best of Denver
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- Westword 2025 · Best Stand Against Gentrification · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Historic Comedy Club · Best of Denver
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- Westword 2024 · Best Used Record Store · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Record Store · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Record Store Spin-Off · Best of Denver
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Sports memorabilia covers every surface here, bathrooms included, because half-measures are for people who don't care. Named for a beloved late Nuggets trainer, this Cherry Creek sports bar has been around forever and carries that weight lightly. The menu sits a notch above standard bar fare, and the TVs outnumber the regulars on a slow night. When the Nuggets are playing, there is nowhere more logical to be.
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A Czech-owned sports bar on Broadway where the roast duck shares menu space with chicken wings and the back bar stocks Becherovka alongside the usual domestic taps. Pool tables, a Pac-Man cabinet, karaoke nights, and Avalanche games on the screens make it a full-service neighborhood hangout. Westword named it Denver's top bar for Avalanche games in 2025, which feels right for a place this cheerfully, improbably itself.
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A record shop sprawling across the old Lowenstein Center on East Colfax, Twist & Shout stocks vinyl, CDs, DVDs, books, and decades of rock-era paraphernalia in a space big enough to lose an afternoon in. Touring acts play occasional in-store shows, and a rotating Local Listening Post keeps tabs on Denver's own scene. Westword named it the city's best record store in 2025, which will surprise nobody who has spent an hour here and left with six things they didn't plan to buy.
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- Westword The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
- Westword 2024 · Best Philly Cheesesteak at an Iron Maiden Bar · Best of Denver
- 5280 Cheesesteak · The 17 Best Sandwiches in (and Around) Denver
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- Westword 2025 · Best New Neighborhood Bar · Best of Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
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- Westword Westword: 2023 · Best Beer to Drink Ringside: Helles · Best of Denver
- Westword Westword: 2024 · Best Brewery to Take Visitors · Best of Denver
- Westword Westword: 2026 · Best Brewery Upgrade · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Beer to Drink Ringside: Helles · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Brewery to Take Visitors · Best of Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best Brewery Upgrade · Best of Denver
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- Westword 2024 · Best Vintage Beer List · Best of Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
- 5280 Pork Tenderloin · The 17 Best Sandwiches in (and Around) Denver
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- Westword The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
- Westword 2023 · Best Patio for Tortured Writers · Best of Denver